Hotels

Berlin is well supplied with hotels from most of the major chains. The better hotels tend to be clustered in a few areas in and around Gendarmenmarkt (and the historic centre more generally), Potsdamer Platz and in the former West Berlin around the Kurfürstendamm and Zoo. Do Activities are likely to be focussed more on areas in the historic centre of Berlin and not around Kurfürstendamm.

Berlin is also well equipped with a variety of popular boutique hotels and cheaper local chains including Maritim and Motel One which can be good value options.

Flights

Thanks to the ongoing trouble building the perpetually soon-to-be-open Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Berlin is served by two airports, Tegel and Schönefeld. Most legacy carriers serve Tegel while easyJet, Ryanair, Norwegian and some other carriers serve Schönefeld. Tegel is far more convenient to the city.

A taxi from Tegel to most hotels in the city centre will cost approximately €25 and takes 20 minutes. Public transportation is available using the TXL bus at a cost of €2.70.

A taxi from Schönefeld to most hotels in the city centre will cost approximately €35-40 and takes 45 minutes. Public transportation is available using the S-Bahn train at a cost of €3.30. The public transport ticket will allow you to connect to a bus, tram or U-Bahn line within 90 minutes.

Trains

This is Flyertalk but in some cases trains will be a sensible way to either come to or from Berlin. Deutsche Bahn run fast and reliable train services to Berlin from all major German cities. The InterCityExpress (ICE) trains can be an worthwhile from Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Munich and Hannover. Overnight trains are available from Amsterdam, Zürich, Vienna and Budapest.